Alpha Nomos (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC) – October 12
Colorbound (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch 2, Switch, PC) – October 12
Deep Dish Dungeon (Xbox Series X/S, PC) – October 13
Just Dance: Decades of Hits (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch) – October 13
Legion Was Here (PC) – October 13
Planet Zoo 2 (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC) – October 13
Total War: Shogun 2 – Complete Edition (PC) – October 13
Valor Mortis (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC) – October 13
Over The Hill (PC) – October 14
Remote Reaper: FPV Combat Drone Simulator (PC) – October 14
Shipping Store Simulator 2037 (PC) – October 14
Thank You Bus Driver (PC) – October 14
The Witch's Bakery (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Switch, PC) – October 14
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC) – October 14
Bluey’s Happy Snaps (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, Switch, PC) – October 15
Brick By Back: Tidy Up The Small Town! (PC) – October 15
Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC) – October 15
Desolus (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, PC) – October 15
Echoes of the Unread (PC, NES) – October 15
Enshrouded (PS5, PC) – October 15
Frosthaven (PC) – October 15
House Flipper 2 (Switch 2) – October 15
It Takes Two (Switch 2) – October 15
Odd Town (PC) – October 15
Pixel Washer (PC) – October 15
Ratatan (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, PC) – October 15
The Jackbox Party Pack 12 (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, Switch, PC) – October 15
Toy Story 3 Complete Edition (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – October 15
Toy Story: Retro Roundup! (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – October 15
Tales of Eternia Remastered (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, Switch, PC)- October 16
Lego Harry Potter Collection (Switch 2) – October 16
Penguin Colony (PC) – October 16
Resident Evil 2 (Switch 2) – October 16
Resident Evil 3 (Switch 2) – October 16
Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition (Switch 2) – October 16
Tenebris Somnia (PC) – October 16
Finished: Nothing
Now Playing: Wolverine
Added to Backlog: Nothing
Current Backlog: 35 games
Almost done with Wolverine, just a few trophies left to clean up. My final thoughts coming next week.
Ratatan is a follow-up to Patapon, so I may check it out.
The Backlog Check-In Vol. 458: 10/10/26: Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse Edition
Re: The Backlog Check-In Vol. 458: 10/10/26: Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse Edition
Oh yeah! Forgot about that one.
Played recently: Dragon Quest Builders
Finished: nothing
Added to backlog: Once Upon a Katamari
In addition to forgetting about Ratatan, I had my memory jogged recently about the new Katamari game that came out last year. Grabbed a physical copy and plan to play that after DQ Builders. (I'm in the last area there.)
Re: The Backlog Check-In Vol. 458: 10/10/26: Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse Edition
Games added: Nothing
Last week: Finished Killer Frequency, played Balatro & Adventures of Elliot
This week: More Balatro & Elliot, may start another spooky game.
Killer Frequency was...fine. You're a radio DJ in a very, VERY small town (it makes my hometown look huge, and that's saying something). The local chief of police is murdered, and the 911 operator (the ONE 911 operator) discovers him dead, and the deputy is knocked out at the station. She takes the deputy and goes for help, which, according to her, is a 2-hour drive each way. In the meantime, the 911 calls are routed to the radio station because there's no one else who can handle them. You then proceed to get calls from people who are being stalked by this serial killer and have to guide them to safety. You also leave the booth (a lot) and wander the station to look for clues & information to help the callers, while also starting to unravel who the serial killer is. It's all well & good, there's nothing blatantly offensive about the game, it's just kinda by-the-numbers. It's also one of those games where if you mess up, there's no do-over, and the only way to get the best ending is to keep everyone alive. I lost 4 people, I believe, and I'm pretty sure the last of those you can only keep alive if everyone else stays alive (in other words, nothing I did wrong on that particular event). I had no interest in replaying it, even though it is a fairly short game, so I looked up the good ending on YouTube (which wasn't THAT different anyway). I certainly don't have enough interest to go for the mythic in it (Hey, did you guys know that Xbox finally has their own platinum trophy equivalent called Mythics?
). Getting that would require AT LEAST *3* playthroughs, assuming you didn't use a walkthrough on your first (which...why?). You have to keep everyone alive, kill everyone, and keep everyone alive & finish in under 4 hours. Nope, I'm good.
I ordered the new Castlevania last week, but I'm getting it & a Switch 2 pro controller from Play-Asia because it's cheaper to import both of those than it is to buy them over here, even factoring in shipping.
Oh, and this is the US cover for Castlevania:
...and this is the one literally everywhere else in the world gets:
Oh, reminds me, Cane asked me about Dynasty Warriors a week or two ago, and I forgot to reply. I imported it as well because that's the ONLY way to get a physical copy of it, but I am *always* ready to drop everything in order to thin out the ancient Chinese population. They got away from the winning formula in the most recent entries, but DW3 was possibly one of the best, so I'm very excited to play that remake.
Last week: Finished Killer Frequency, played Balatro & Adventures of Elliot
This week: More Balatro & Elliot, may start another spooky game.
Killer Frequency was...fine. You're a radio DJ in a very, VERY small town (it makes my hometown look huge, and that's saying something). The local chief of police is murdered, and the 911 operator (the ONE 911 operator) discovers him dead, and the deputy is knocked out at the station. She takes the deputy and goes for help, which, according to her, is a 2-hour drive each way. In the meantime, the 911 calls are routed to the radio station because there's no one else who can handle them. You then proceed to get calls from people who are being stalked by this serial killer and have to guide them to safety. You also leave the booth (a lot) and wander the station to look for clues & information to help the callers, while also starting to unravel who the serial killer is. It's all well & good, there's nothing blatantly offensive about the game, it's just kinda by-the-numbers. It's also one of those games where if you mess up, there's no do-over, and the only way to get the best ending is to keep everyone alive. I lost 4 people, I believe, and I'm pretty sure the last of those you can only keep alive if everyone else stays alive (in other words, nothing I did wrong on that particular event). I had no interest in replaying it, even though it is a fairly short game, so I looked up the good ending on YouTube (which wasn't THAT different anyway). I certainly don't have enough interest to go for the mythic in it (Hey, did you guys know that Xbox finally has their own platinum trophy equivalent called Mythics?
). Getting that would require AT LEAST *3* playthroughs, assuming you didn't use a walkthrough on your first (which...why?). You have to keep everyone alive, kill everyone, and keep everyone alive & finish in under 4 hours. Nope, I'm good.I ordered the new Castlevania last week, but I'm getting it & a Switch 2 pro controller from Play-Asia because it's cheaper to import both of those than it is to buy them over here, even factoring in shipping.
Oh, and this is the US cover for Castlevania: Oh, reminds me, Cane asked me about Dynasty Warriors a week or two ago, and I forgot to reply. I imported it as well because that's the ONLY way to get a physical copy of it, but I am *always* ready to drop everything in order to thin out the ancient Chinese population. They got away from the winning formula in the most recent entries, but DW3 was possibly one of the best, so I'm very excited to play that remake.
"When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed
if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I
became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the
desire to be very grown up.” ― C.S. Lewis
if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I
became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the
desire to be very grown up.” ― C.S. Lewis
Re: The Backlog Check-In Vol. 458: 10/10/26: Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse Edition
Yeah, it's worth the price of shipping for the cover improvement alone.
argyle wrote: Mon Oct 12, 2026 9:49 am Oh, reminds me, Cane asked me about Dynasty Warriors a week or two ago, and I forgot to reply. I imported it as well because that's the ONLY way to get a physical copy of it, but I am *always* ready to drop everything in order to thin out the ancient Chinese population.
-
isthatallyougot
- Posts: 1728
- Joined: Fri Jan 19, 2018 9:52 am
Re: The Backlog Check-In Vol. 458: 10/10/26: Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse Edition
Well the 1901 season is done and dusted, and what a memorable one it was. I will say that the game of baseball is about as fair as it gets. It's predominantly mono a mono conflict on a cycle that repeats endlessly with one side or another winning these mini-battles that accumulate across games and seasons. If you win most of these battles, you'll be rewarded with wins. However, the means of determining a champion in the sport can be quite punishing and even unfair, depending on how you look at it. The entire season is a marathon of 162 games in order to separate the wheat from the chaff, and that large sample size does a wonderful job of accounting for strange anomalies that may undermine the value of any given squad. Now there are injuries and whatnot, but by and large, if you rise to the top of this lengthy gauntlet, you are deservedly regarded as the best team in the sport in my view. However, the playoffs take that whole formula and ruthlessly throw it in the bin in order to determine a champion based on VERY small sample sizes. It's quite the contrast. If ever there were a sport where finishing on top of the "table" ought to reward a team with a championship, it's MLB. Soccer does it, and no one cries about it, and to be fair, I'm not either. The playoffs are surely exciting as all that tension is condensed and compacted into an excruciatingly tight frame where every pitch, every swing, every move, every breath MATTERS to an inordinate degree in comparison with the preceding competition. But wow, are the playoffs HIGH DRAMA and unmissable action for the baseball fan. But because of this strange pairing of large and small sample sizes rendering judgment on a season, the best can falter and be undone, while the very good (but not best) can find their way to ultimate glory. All this rambling just to say my league is done with the 1901 season, and my 1901 Twins were ultimately treated fairly by the sometimes-fickle and merciless baseball gods. My 120-win, record setting squad finished the job. There was some very tense drama and late-inning multi-run comebacks, despite the bracket looking relatively comfortable - going 11-3 overall. But things were far less comfortable than it looks, especially for a skipper biting his nails to the quick.
Another fun thing that doesn't really matter too much overall but is nice to follow is the fact that OOTP gives your team a season-score at the end of every campaign. It's an unshared formula that's meant to reflect the totality of your team performance for a given year. It's a score /1000, and a 1000 score is considered "perfect" or ideal, but like with scouting, certain situations call for ratings that can exceed the 80-high mark on the traditional 20-80 scale. Anyway, my 1901 group got a 1505/1000 - a ridiculous grade. For reference, the 1900 and first-year champs scored a 743 - less than HALF. Needless to say, it was a phenomenal season, and now I'm invested in making my Twins the "Yankees" of this fictional baseball world. I'll probably keep this league going for multiple decades just to see a bigger picture view down the road.
Not a baseball fan? Get bent!
Just joking. As you were.
Another fun thing that doesn't really matter too much overall but is nice to follow is the fact that OOTP gives your team a season-score at the end of every campaign. It's an unshared formula that's meant to reflect the totality of your team performance for a given year. It's a score /1000, and a 1000 score is considered "perfect" or ideal, but like with scouting, certain situations call for ratings that can exceed the 80-high mark on the traditional 20-80 scale. Anyway, my 1901 group got a 1505/1000 - a ridiculous grade. For reference, the 1900 and first-year champs scored a 743 - less than HALF. Needless to say, it was a phenomenal season, and now I'm invested in making my Twins the "Yankees" of this fictional baseball world. I'll probably keep this league going for multiple decades just to see a bigger picture view down the road.
Not a baseball fan? Get bent!
Just joking. As you were.
Dragon kick your a$$ into the Milky Way!